The Bookdate, Volume One

Hello, happy Monday and welcome to a new literary themed feature here on NW. I figured this was the perfect way to condense a lot of book related things in to one post. For time constraints and also so I can have a handy lil' link to point people in the direction of when my mind resembles a blank page. It's going to get wordy so get comfy, grab a coffee/iced drink if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, where humidity doesn't seem to quit and enjoy...

Book Club: March+April-My lil' book club on Goodreads are reading two books over the next two months. First up, we have a book that makes me feel a bit..nervous for lack of a better word. The Year of Magical Thinking** by Joan Didion. This nervousness as such stems from the fact a lot of my favourite writers and creative people love Didion and I've never read her work before. I'm sure it's not on the level of the booktube world where books are sometimes overhyped exhaustively*** but still I am approaching it with caution. The second book this month is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. This novel was voted on by the members in my group and was a clear favourite. With the HBO show debuting at the end of last month, I'm sure it is no coincidence. I have heard this is fantastic, addicting and a little bit dark.

Girls at Library: This feels like one of those digital corners of the Internet that you want to savour all on your own but given it's to me the book-themed equivalent of The Coveteur, it needs to be shared. Girls at Library or GAL for short, is "an online journal that features engaging literary interviews with and book recommendations from remarkable, diverse women who share a passion for reading." Beautifully presented with inspiring imagery and words throughout, it really is one brilliant site.

A sampling of the Girls At Library Instagram

Recently Read: So I'm a self confessed serial reader, it even says so in my bio. Naturally over the last few months I've read a fair bit so I'll list some of the highlights here and provide insight where necessary. *Buffering by Hannah Hart. Brilliant, brilliant memoir. It's definitely not a lighthearted read but Hannah still includes humour and optimism throughout. *The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck* by Sarah Knight, also brilliant and just what I needed to read. *Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn. Brilliant poetry that got me out of a bit of a rut with poems, thanks to some mediocre writing I'd read.

The Wishlist: Books I want to read or own basically, although I'm on a bit of a book buying ban for the time being. -Can You Tolerate This? by Ashleigh Young. A collection of essays by an NZ writer who recently won the Windham-Campbell prize. -Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Emma read this and loved it so much, she finished it in a day. It's another book that seems quite hyped up at the moment so I am a little skeptical but intrigued nonetheless. -Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. A feminist collection of speeches and essays, recommended by many different creative outlets and voices.

I hope you've enjoyed this somewhat wordy first roundup of all things literary! Let me know in the comments what you've been reading, or if there's any book websites, magazines etc I should be looking at.

*Review copy

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***This isn't a diss at any YouTuber in particular. Of course some books are hyped because they are brilliant. There's also some books hyped that are quite terrible but it all comes down to personal preference and opinion.